A blog about my journey of training to run a 1/2 marathon with Team In Training and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and beyond.

Monday, June 28, 2010

The Hills Are Alive...

The Hills are Alive... with the sound of Cyndi screaming. Ugh! For our 6-mile (yes, I said 6-mile)run on Saturday, someone thought it would be a good idea to map out a course with some seriously sadistic hills. I thought that my very first day was brutal, but Saturday totally topped that. There were big hills, little hills, rolling hills, and stairs (oh dear God, the stairs). One hill in my last 2 miles was the size of Mount Everest. As I was climbing the hill, I could have sworn that I was passed by a mountain goat. Turns out, it was just a laborador. They said that they are trying to prepare us for San Fran, and all I could think was, "What have I gotten myself into?". To top it all off they made us get up extra early to avoid as much of the heat as possible. So there I was at 6am, running up mountains, being passed by mountain goats, and screaming my head off. So Julie Andrews I'm not. But at least there was no poop involved. Thank you Imodium.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

OMG Running gives you the runs!!!!

Warning: This blog entry may too too much information for some people to handle, but when I started this I promised that I would chronicle my journey honestly, embarassing moments and all. So only the brave of heart need to proceed. (S, do not read any further. I say that word poop.)

So I have been running for 6 weeks now. My miles have slowly increased and I've had my share of ups and downs, progresses and setbacks. But nothing, I mean NOTHING could have prepared me for the horrible, terrible, world-shattering thing that I learned this weekend. Running gives you the runs!!!!!! Not only is that incredibly embarassing, but it is very painful. I was ready for shin-splints, muscle cramps, and vomit, but poo.... well, poo was just completely unexpected. I was short my miles this week by 1 1/2 miles because every time I would go for a run, my stomach would start rumbling, then cramping, and then before you know it I would end up running... towards a bathroom. I'm still not sure if it is the up and down motion of running, or if I was eating something that didn't agree with me, or if I am just one of the lucky souls that gets the poos when they run. So I did a little research and was introduced to the ugly monster known as "runner's trots". Classy, huh?! But it's a real, honest-to-goodness thing, and I'm not the only one that gets it.

So I decided to take an Imodium before my run this past Saturday. I was confident that nothing would happen. Boy, was I wrong. Let me just say that I used to think that Port-a-potties were disgusting, horrible things and I would never, ever use one. Well, after Saturday I am thinking about building a shrine to the God-send known as the Port-o-John. HOWEVER, I want to say that about half way through my 6-mile run, my Imodium finally kicked in and I was able to complete my run AND do 30 minutes yoga afterwards. AWESOME!!!! So I will from now on, get up two hours earlier and take my Imodium, so that I can admire the P.O.J., but NEVER have to use one again. And from what I hear, I pray that I NEVER have to use one on race day. Oh, and S, if you reading this.... POOP! : )

Sunday, June 13, 2010




Okay, so last week I issued a challenge to everyone. If I could raise $200 in donations by Friday June 11th, then I would run my weekly miles in a grass skirt and coconut bra. Well, we fell short of our goal (hence the absence of the coconut bra), but I got enough donations that I thought that I should keep at least part of the bet. So I ran my Saturday miles in a grass skirt. Surprisingly not a lot of people commented on the skirt. So either it looked very natural and a lot of runners run in grass skirts that I didn't know about, or people just automatically think I'm nuts and not worth commenting on. Oh, well. Thank you to all that donated! Remember that we are making a difference. And if I gotta do some weird stuff to make it happen then so be it. : )

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Conversation with my legs

Last night as I prepared for my nightly run, my legs wanted to have a conversation with me. It began harmless enough, but quickly escalated into the kind of conversation that I have with my two-year old. If you have ever spent time with a two year old, then you know that it gets really ugly very quickly if you try to make them do something that they do not want to do. The conversation went as follows:

Legs: “Hey! Whatcha doin’?”
Me: “I’m getting my shoes on to go run.”
Legs: “We already did that.”
Me: “On Saturday, we ran, but we have to run again tonight.”
Legs: “We don’t wanna.”
Me: “Too bad. We have to do this because we are in training.”
Legs: “NO!”
Me: “Yes, this is necessary. It is something that we HAVE to do.”
Legs: “NO! WE DON’T WANNA!”
Me: “It’s happening. End of discussion.”

They were quiet while I walked down to the park and then did my stretches. Then as I began my run, they began yelling.

Legs: “We hate you! You’re mean! We hate you!
Me: “Shut up and run!”
They then began chanting “We hate you” over and over with every stride.
Me: “Be quiet! We are almost done!”
Legs: “We hate you! We hate you!”

As I walked home, they continued to whisper mean and terrible things to me. And even as I climbed into bed they taunted me.

Me: “Good night.”
Legs: “Still hate you.”

Wait ‘til those sadistic brats see what I have planned for them tonight.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

5 Miles!!!!

5 MILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did 5 miles on Saturday! 5 whole flippin' miles!!! 5 hot, sweaty, stinky miles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did 5 miiiiiiles. UH! I did 5 miiiiiiiles. UH! I... DID... 5... MILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 5 gut-wrenching, nearly vomit-iducing, side-splitting miles!!! In your face 5 miles!!! And I felt good afterward. At no point during the 5 miles did I stumble, or rest, or army crawl. I felt great. I wasn't really winded or tired. It was wonderful. And then.....


I went home and celebrated my victory with a 2 hour nap and ice packs on both ankles and one of my knees. But I still did 5 miles.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Today's Inspiration

I have a little calendar at my desk at work that my Mom bought me a while back. I flip the page everyday and it has a new little saying for the day. Some are cute, some are funny, and every once in a while I come across one that is really relevant to that day. Today's quote was one of those. It jumped out at me and I wanted to share it with you.

"We may run, walk, stumble, drive, or fly, but never let us lose sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way." - Gloria Gaither

However, she forgot to mention fall, cramp, puke, pass out, and crawl. Or maybe that's just me.